Nursery Decor with Rachel McAffee Using Summer Stories

Hello, everyone! 

Rachel here to share with you a couple sweet nursery decor projects using the Summer Stories collection. My sister recently had a beautiful baby girl and I wanted to give her some handmade decor pieces for the nursery.  I fell in love with the soft blues, grays and cotton candy pinks in this line; they also happen to match the new baby's nursery perfectly! 

The first project is a wall hang using a chipboard back board that I painted  ivory. I  layered different patterns and colors of paper from the Summer Stories collection. I attached a vintage photo of a baby and made a little banner using die cuts, buttons and twine.  Using the "flashcards" sheet of paper, I cut out the word "baby" and adhered it to the bottom of the panel using pop dots.

Here's a little pillow I made out of muslin and then embellished with a die cut and button banner.  I also stitched "xox" in the upper corner using light blue thread.  I used fabric glue to adhere the floppy blossom ribbon down the side of the pillow. 

I'm sure you're LOVING this new collection as much as I am!

 Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Supplies used-

Pattern paper- Summer Stories: Flashcards A and B side

Summer Stories buttons and chipboard embellishments

Summer Stories Die Cut Sheet

Summer Stories Enamel Dots

Summer Stories 6x6 pad ( blue flashcard paper)

Other: Floppy blossom ribbon, chipboard back board- Melissa Frances

Chic and Scary...

Did you know that Chic and Scary is now available digitally from Cricut.com?

Make sure to get your copy today at cricut.com!

Lowri McNabb and Sandy Ang with Artfull Crafts Blog Swap

Today we have TWO amazing designers from Artful Crafts with us today. We have the amazing Lowri McNabb and Sandy Ang with us today. So let's get started with LOWRI:

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Hi Everyone – Lowri from Artfull Crafts here to share some projects using the fabulous Everyday Moments Collection. The colors in this collection are fabulous and the papers are very versatile. 

Journal Album

I have created this blank journal album using a combination of plain white cardstock and papers from

the collection.

The wonderful colors really stand out against the plain card and each page has some journaling prompts

for the recipient to start writing.

I have bound the book cover with an eyelet and bakers twine which wraps around a brad to keep the

book closed.

Card and Matching Envelope

The base of this card was cut using my Cameo and this file, and I have kept the additional decoration

quite simple. To create the bird I brushed some white ink over the wooden piece and then stamped over

the top with a clock-face stamp.

The matching envelope was also die-cut using this file here, and I used two of the Everyday Moments Brads and some bakers twine for an office-style closure.

Gift Boxes

I also made these gift boxes using this gorgeous collection – this is just a small sample, and you can see all of them on the A Little Hut blog.

I hope you have enjoyed these ideas – please swing by my blog to see heaps more!

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Hi I'm Sandy Ang from the sunny, little island of Singapore. A card-maker, scrapper and off-the-page project creator. I love playing with lines and shapes to produce layered, textural and often dimensional items. My style varies depending on the supplies I'm working with. It ranges from classic to quirky and eclectic.

Since wedding season is just round the corner and vacation season coming after that, I thought I’d share two wedding cards and the cover of a travel journal created for Artfull Crafts. I appreciate how Teresa Collins designs products that are beautifully classic and timeless. On each project I’ve mixed and matched supplies across various collections. 

I have more Teresa Collins cards and a mini-book here. Hope you’ll drop by to check them out. Thank you Sesil for the opportunity to share my projects on the Teresa Collins Design Team blog.

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Thank you ladies for sharing your amazing talent with us. Make sure to "like" Artfull Crafts at: facebook.com/artfullcrafts and tell them Teresa Collins sent you.  

Spring Fling projects by Amanda Jones

Hi everyone! The sun is well and truly shining here in the UK this week. It's unseasonably warm. I've fired up the BBQ, read books in the garden and switched my scarves for sunglasses and it's only March! As I've been bitten by the spring 'feel-good' bug, I have been having fun playing with the Spring Fling line!

My first creation is a little table decoration made from some simple loops of patterned paper and a few dabs of glue. It's this simple:

1. Cut some 1/2" wide strips of patterned paper.

2.Trim them to various lengths (ranging from about 4" to 7").

3. Loop them over and glue the ends together to form a teardrop shape.

4. Cluster them by adhering them together at the narrow end, adding more loops in between ones you have already glued.

Once I was happy with the arrangement I sandwiched the 'root' end of my paper tree between 2 thin pieces of craft wood with a hot glue gun, so that it stood upright by itself. Simple!

Soon it will be wedding season and my second project is some little bags of confetti ready for those summer weddings!

Again, super simple to make... 

1. Punch a whole ton of shapes. I chose teeny tiny butterflies, but you could use anything :)

2. Fill some glassine bags with your punched shapes.

3. Using die cuts, papers, gems, or anything else you have handy, make a decorative topper for the bags.

4. Glue, stitch or staple the toppers on to seal your bags.

I love the happy colours of the Spring Fling line! I hope they brighten your Wednesday, too :)

Everyday Moments itty bitty Sweet Mini album by Cheri Piles

Everyone is loving the Everyday Moments collection, I too am addicted to this line! I recently helped out a friend in her booth at a local Creating Keepsakes expo and I LOVED hearing all of the comments on the new lines! 

With this new mini book I wanted to show how you could use this line with some pretty bold spring colors and bring in a vintage feel at the same time. To create the overall look I inked all of the edges in "antique linen" which matches the color in the papers perfectly with it's just a hint of tan. Then I sanded everything to give it a really SOFT feel letting some of the chipboard of the book show through on the edges. 

The cover of this page has a scalloped edge with holes and I glittered the edge in a blue color and added the die cut word "today" over the top then added the little clear rhinestones in the center of each hole. I love the blue gem in the center of the clock sticker. I used Therm OWeb 3D foam squares on the "Memory" and "love the everyday" die cuts. Then I slipped the wing of the "trinket" bird just under the "love the everyday" banner.  

On the back of the cover I used glossy accents on the "remember this" banner to give it more demension. I also added blue crystals to the blue damask pattern. I cut this piece from the right edge of the "collage" paper and matted it onto a spring green cardstock. I love how the colors go so well.

I used my Cricut Cuttle Bug and ran the papers "yellow dots", the back side of "calendar" and some old lunch sacks through it using a floral die and leaf shaped die. I also used an embossing folder on the leaves. I put the large crown brad in the center and encircled it in the blue scallop rhinestone strip by just cutting the scallops apart, because they are self adhesive they are easy to manipulate.

This is a pocket page, where I used the "collage" paper to cover the chipboard and then added another flower and the "Observations" die cut journal tag. To finish it off I added the "notes" tab on the top left. 

Photographer's credit

I love this little canvas page insert!

I did the same thing here with the die cut bird, I cut the rhinestone scalloped gems and layed them on the inner side of the blue outline. I love the effect!

Photographer's credit

 

I love how this came together creating something new, yet with a little of the old vintage charm. I hope this inspires you really play with the line and have fun trying something new!

Cheri's Blog
Mini Album - Sweet Chic
Photograph's credit

All Things VALENTINE by Colette Nederhoff

I am so excited to be posting today because I am just in time for my favorite Holiday!!  I have been busy making lots of Valentines and The NEW Fabrications: Linen line Teresa has designed is just awesome for this Day to celebrate LOVE!!!!  This collection has such elegant stickers and embellishments that convey the message perfectly!

One of the Things that makes this day so special to me is that I grew up a "Valentine"!   My maiden name is Valentine so my family definitely celebrated it every year and enjoyed having this day with the same name as ours!!!

I had fun with my Cricut machine and these wonderful Fabrications: Linen papers.   The cartridge I used to make the purse was the Cricut Imagine " Imagine more Cards".  I added a few embellishments and now I have a darling little gift box to hold candy or some jewelry!  The stickers and brads are all done up for you in this line!!

 Sending you a Hug from a REAL VALENTINE!!

Colette's Blog

those dreaded words... By Julie Jacob

Mom...I need a costume...........by Saturday."

And not just any costume.

Not a fireman. Not a nurse. Not an alien.
Oh no. It's a 'dress-the-part' murder mystery party...and my daughter needs a foreign medieval prince costume.

Seriously.

So I hit the thrift stores. Oddly enough there's no "foreign medieval prince" clothing section...so I had to scavenge the men's shirts. I lucked out and found one I thought would work.

Ouch. $4.99. Did they not get the thrift store prices memo? I find some brown pants that will work with my brown boots. Sweet.

Now for the vest. Every foreign medieval prince needs a flashy vest.

I decide to make one. After all, I had great success with a pirate vest at Halloween.

(Maybe not GREAT success...but it was passable.)
I go to the fabric store. Ouch again. $12.99 a yard for the flashy gold sparkly fabric that will make a dashing vest. Good thing I have a coupon.

At home, I whip out a vest to use as a template. I am optimistically planning for the whole vest process to take about 20 minutes.

(Feel free to laugh. A lot. Like grab your belly and really go for it.)
I cut it out and start sewing. You should know that I do NOT possess any sort of mad sewing skills. I am fairly proficient at straight lines...(and Barbie skirts) but that's about it.

It takes me all of 10 minutes to realize (AFTER the hemming was mostly done) that I've assembled the vest right-side in. The wrong side is showing.

I say bad words.
Then I decide it's not so bad after all, because the wrong side is the shinier side...and shouldn't princes be shiny? I keep going.

I then sew the armhole to the neck backwards.
I say more bad words.
I rip that out and sew it correctly.

The vest finally gets done. Mostly. 20 minutes of sewing is a blip in my rear view mirror that I have passed LONG ago. It is still inside out with the wrong side showing...but I'm trying really hard not to let it bug me.

Now I am worried it's more "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" than foreign medieval prince.

It needs something more.

Were you wondering when I would EVER get around to the scrapbooking portion of this blog post?

I fire up my Cricut machine and put in Teresa's Sophisticated cartridge.

I cut out a fleur de lis to use as a pattern. (Accent 3 - Border Shadow at 5").

My plan was to cut the fleur de lis out of the gold and use this really cool iron-on adhesive stuff to attach it to the shirt cuff (the gold wasn't showing up on the vest).

Sometimes though, plans go awry.

This is where my post title should change to "I Can't Read Directions so I Ironed the Fleur de Lis TO MY IRONING BOARD".
Don't believe me?

Note to self: put new ironing board cover on Target list.

I think that if I had just done the magic adhesive process on the actual shirt, everything would be ok. DO YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING?

I repeat the process, ironing the gold fleur de lis to the $4.99 thrift store shirt.

Still wrong. So, SO wrong. Only now the above picture, complete with stuck on background gunk is now stuck to the shirt.

I am beyond bad words. I'm doing that weird laughing-crying sound. My daughter (who had joined me to try stuff on) is now looking at me like she can't decide whether to give me a hug or 'fetch Ma her medicin'.

This is where I took a little break.

I found a shirt that my husband had put in the donation pile. A white shirt.

Dang. Coulda saved myself $4.99. Except then I would have ruined that one, and not had a spare.

I decide the shirt looks fine as it is. I decide black fleur de lis' would look great all blinged up and stuck on the vest.

So I cut out another one, stick them on, bling them out...and...

hello medieval prince!

Today I'm working on her crown. I'm going to use the Sophisticated cartridge again.

There will be no sewing involved.
And hopefully no bad words or anything medicinally necessary.

Enjoy your Friday!! :)